Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Cheryl L. Turnbull Sells 3,000 Shares

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total value of $242,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,482,984. This represents a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Griffon Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of Griffon stock traded down $1.89 on Friday, hitting $79.00. 310,798 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 330,172. Griffon Co. has a 52 week low of $55.01 and a 52 week high of $86.73. The company has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $76.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. Equities research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.02%.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the conglomerate to reacquire up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GFF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in Griffon by 93.1% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 3,755 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,810 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 178.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 20,009 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,444,000 after buying an additional 12,811 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at $43,325,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Griffon by 120.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,481 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,172,000 after acquiring an additional 16,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Griffon by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 538,200 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $38,358,000 after acquiring an additional 18,274 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

About Griffon

Griffon Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides consumer and professional, and home and building products in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Home and Building Products, and Consumer and Professional Products. The Home and Building Products segment manufactures and markets residential and commercial sectional garage doors, rolling steel service doors, fire doors, shutters, steel security grilles, and room dividers for the use in commercial construction and repair, and home remodeling applications.